An update next month to Apple's flagship digital media player may outfit the device in an additional color but may otherwise represent a rather modest refresh when compared to years past, AppleInsider has been told.

The iPod, which struck a resurgence that helped place Apple back on the map in 2001, may for the first time take a back seat to the company's more lucrative and influential devices -- such as the iPhone and iPad -- when the electronics maker unveils its holiday lineup of iOS devices sometime between mid-August and mid-September.

For years the iPod lifted Apple as its bread-and-butter product but now accounts for a paltry 5% of the company's revenue, according data released as part of its fiscal third quarter earnings report this week. And the majority of that revenue comes from the higher-ASP iPod touch, which accounted for more than half of the 7.54 million iPods shipped during the quarter.

Adding a bit more color to the matter are a series of recent industry checks by Concord Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who told AppleInsider that the iPod touch is the only one of Apple's four iPod product lines that continues to show any semblance of unit growth heading into the second half of the year.

Looking into the current third calendar quarter, Kuo said checks indicate Apple has placed orders for white iPod touch models that are expected to go into mass production sometime in late August, but he added that the build plans for those models reflect few, if any, distinguishable changes from the existing black models introduced last fall.

"It means no spec update of iPod touch this year," he said.

And while such claims may or may not pan out, it's worth noting that the same round of checks by the analyst revealed earlier this week that Apple's production roadmap for its legacy white MacBook appeared to drop off in August, and that no future updates were expected. Within days of those checks, Apple formally discontinued sales of the white MacBook to consumers, relegating the notebook to an education-only product.

(It's believed that Apple will continue to manufacture white MacBooks through the summer to fill orders for educational institutions before discontinuing the product altogether.)

Asked why he believes his checks into this year's iPod touch update will similarly prove accurate, Kuo said it's all about a priority shift towards the market-leading iPhone and the iPad, which now combine for a whopping 68% of Apple's sales. Unlike years past when Apple updated the iPhone in the summer, met initial demand, and only then began sharing components with the iPod touch in the fall, this year's iPhone refresh has been pushed inline with that of the iPod touch.

"[The] iPhone and iPad have higher priority to get shared components of iOS devices when the supply chain is tight (especially after the Japan quake)," Kuo said, suggesting that Apple has such high expectations for the fifth-generation iPhone that it may not be confident it could secure enough components to introduce a similarly-equipped iPod touch around the same time.

For perspective, Apple shipped at least 33 million iOS devices last quarter, struggling to build enough iPads the entire stretch. That quarter included 20 million iPhones, and it wasn't a new iPhone quarter. The iPhone 4 actually celebrated its first birthday near the end of the 3-month span.

Apple has proven that it can beat at a pace that is sometimes beyond the scalability of its suppliers, and is now pouring billions into those companies to make sure they catch up so it doesn't have to slow down. In addition to mass production of the iPhone 5 in September, Kuo says Apple has an ambitious but, for those reasons, tentative plan that could see a new iPad enter production only a few months later.

Although the "plan might change," the analyst's current checks have a new iPad hitting the manufacturing lines sometime in the fourth quarter. He says, however, that it's unclear when Apple plans to introduce it to market.

"Component suppliers will start to ship for next iPad in mid 3Q11 and MP date will be in 4Q," he wrote in a communication to AppleInsider. "The demand forecast is strong and Apple prefers to allocate shared components to iPhone and iPad." Kuo added that TPK currently acts as the sole source for touch-screens for white iPads but that Wintek will start sharing those duties in September.

The analyst's checks aside, there's been little to no evidence thus far to suggest a material update to the iPod touch is near production. No reports have surfaced with talk of parts or supplier contracts for a new model, and even Apple's own iOS betas are already dropping hints at two versions of an iPad 3 but haven't turned up mention of a fifth-gen iPod touch. Instead, the last few releases included references (above) to an unreleased "iPod4,2," which identifies it as a player based on the existing, fourth-gen iPod touch architecture.

Should Apple indeed forgo an architectural revamp of the iPod this year, the advent of a white model could serve to re-energize sales in a move similar to the one that played out a few months ago with the arrival of the white iPhone 4.

The only spec I expect to see 100% is an A5 chip. 80% chance that it will get a 3 MP camera (like it was wrongly predicted in 2009 and 2010 it might get), and a 50% chance of 128GB storage. The only things we really need are those features. Other commenters, what else do you think it needs?

You are reading this information the wrong way. The iPod Touch will begin to be phased out this year. It will likely only ship in a single low cost $200 8GB model (in white perhaps). The high end models starting at $300 will be replaced with a new pay as you go iPhone. The iPhone would be able to do everything an iPod Touch can currently do plus have access to cellular voice and/or data. Apple may even throw in some kind of free data service for app and iTunes downloads like the Kindle does for books. If they make the right deals, it could even come with limited free web browsing and iCloud syncing. Perhaps a low cost subscription to play online games. The possibilities are endless. This new iPhone would be in addition to the premium upgrade to the iPhone 4. It would have a thinner design and look a lot like the existing iPod Touch. Expect its camera to be lower resolution than the iPhone. This information is all speculation but it fits well with Apple's strategy and the other leaks.

I think we'll see a white iPod touch (makes sense) with A5 and maybe a slightly better camera (3MP sounds about right). I can certainly see them discontinuing the Shuffles with Nano's so similarly sized and so the line between the two devices being blurred. I don't think we'll see an end to the touch anytime soon as Apple will use it as the 'training wheels for the iPhone' in the sort of 9 - 16 year old range. I don't think we'll see anything updated except for the Touch in the iPod line but Apple will need to do something with it all soon as sales are certainly not increasing.

You are reading this information the wrong way. The iPod Touch will begin to be phased out this year. It will likely only ship in a single low cost $200 8GB model (in white perhaps). The high end models starting at $300 will be replaced with a new pay as you go iPhone. The iPhone would be able to do everything an iPod Touch can currently do plus have access to cellular voice and/or data. Apple may even throw in some kind of free data service for app and iTunes downloads like the Kindle does for books. If they make the right deals, it could even come with limited free web browsing and iCloud syncing. Perhaps a low cost subscription to play online games. The possibilities are endless. This new iPhone would be in addition to the premium upgrade to the iPhone 4. It would have a thinner design and look a lot like the existing iPod Touch. Expect its camera to be lower resolution than the iPhone. This information is all speculation but it fits well with Apple's strategy and the other leaks.

Your plan actually makes more sense. I forgot about the other rumors. Sorry to offend any iPod touch users out there! My only iOS device is a iPod Touch 4G 64 GB that is jailbroken on iOS 4.3.3 untethered.

I just want the iPod Touch to get Garage Band. I know it can run on an A4 but the A5 would be better. All Garage Band would need is different screen layouts. Doubling of the memory of the iPod Touch would be a really good idea. Having a 4" screen would be a huge change for the positive. It could become my portable computer. With Airplay it already can work with TV sets.

I don't care about colors because I'll be buying a heavy duty case for it. The smaller iPods lost my interest because the new Nano is just stupid. It had video and a video camera. Now it just has a tiny touch screen that allows people to reposition the image. What a waste of technology.

There comes a time when things get too small. I hope Steve turns the Nano into the smallest iPod at a much lower price, even though I don't want that model.

You are reading this information the wrong way. The iPod Touch will begin to be phased out this year. It will likely only ship in a single low cost $200 8GB model (in white perhaps). The high end models starting at $300 will be replaced with a new pay as you go iPhone. The iPhone would be able to do everything an iPod Touch can currently do plus have access to cellular voice and/or data. Apple may even throw in some kind of free data service for app and iTunes downloads like the Kindle does for books. If they make the right deals, it could even come with limited free web browsing and iCloud syncing. Perhaps a low cost subscription to play online games. The possibilities are endless. This new iPhone would be in addition to the premium upgrade to the iPhone 4. It would have a thinner design and look a lot like the existing iPod Touch. Expect its camera to be lower resolution than the iPhone. This information is all speculation but it fits well with Apple's strategy and the other leaks.

Good thinking. Currently Apple can sell the iPod touch with a 30%+ marge. It sells the contract free iPhone with almost the same components as the iPod for two and a half times the price of the iPod. This is in itself unacceptable for consumers and unsustainable in the long run because of the very fierce competition of other phone vendors.

I think they can afford to drop Shuffles altogether now that the Nano is smaller and more Shuffle-like and while they're at it they should drop the Classics as well by adding a 128GB option to the iPod Touch... With iPods making up less and less of Apple's total sales, I don't see why they shouldn't contract their range to just 2-3 options - makes consumers less confused and everything a lot neater.

Add an iPhone Lite, and iPad Pro and drop the Shuffle/Classic I say. Focus on the money makers!

Eh, where to start? Firstly the iPod that brought Apple back from the dead is the iPod classic the direct descendant from the original iPod.

The iPod Touch is really quite a different device and has very little in common with those early media players. The iPod touch is more closely related to the iPhone or even the iPad, and one could say it is the iPhone from a software perspective, but without 3g (yes the bit that really makes it a phone).

The iPod Touch is in a funny place right now, yes the iPod line is in decline, Apple has already reposition the Nano to be just a music player, it has left the iPod classic there untouched for those who want it, and the iPod Shuffle doesn't really have anywhere else to go, I mean how small can it really get.

My point is that the iPod touch isn't really an iPod, it is much more than that. In fact most people don't even call it an iPod, the name iTouch seems to be everywhere. But analyst love the doom an gloom around the falling revenue coming from the iPod line and the iPod Touch suffers because of this.Maybe we need a name change or something?

Personally i think the iPod Touch will get updated internally - it needs to keep up with the other iOS devices especially it's older sibling the iPhone which both share much of the same software. I think 3g makes sense, this would position the device closer to the iPad (kind of like an iPad Nano) giving the device greater flexibility. As for a white version - that seem to be a no-brainer.

What are the chances that the iPod Classic will be discontinued this year? Considering the fact that it is the 10th anniversary, what would Apple do to the device that single-handedly turned the company around? Dumping it would be hard, but Apple have demonstrated that they have no qualms of getting rid of anything they consider archaic. They didn't even have a problem dropping the iPod Mini, which was their best-selling product at the time to introduce the Nano.

I got my first iPod in 2004, which was the 3G one. It was what made me start taking notice of Apple. Then, when the iPhone came out, it had the desired effect on me and I bought my first iMac in 2009! Since then my house is becoming full of devices with the Apple logo... the MBP, Time Capsule, Airport Express, iPhones, iPods, iPads and soon MBA and MM!!

If they release something to commemorate the 10th anniversary, I will definitely buy it.

You are reading this information the wrong way. The iPod Touch will begin to be phased out this year. It will likely only ship in a single low cost $200 8GB model (in white perhaps). The high end models starting at $300 will be replaced with a new pay as you go iPhone. The iPhone would be able to do everything an iPod Touch can currently do plus have access to cellular voice and/or data. Apple may even throw in some kind of free data service for app and iTunes downloads like the Kindle does for books. If they make the right deals, it could even come with limited free web browsing and iCloud syncing. Perhaps a low cost subscription to play online games. The possibilities are endless. This new iPhone would be in addition to the premium upgrade to the iPhone 4. It would have a thinner design and look a lot like the existing iPod Touch. Expect its camera to be lower resolution than the iPhone. This information is all speculation but it fits well with Apple's strategy and the other leaks.

Could Apple just put a SIM slot, cellular & 3G chip into iPod Touch 4G, up rear camera to 3mp. and be done with it? Sell this at a tad more than current iPT4 and it will be a very good pre-paid iPhone.
A4 or A5, it doesn't matter for a targeting market.
And while we're at it I really love to see a 5.5" iPod Touch with A5. This could be the ultimate mobile game & GPS machine.

Could Apple just put a SIM slot, cellular & 3G chip into iPod Touch 4G, up rear camera to 3mp. and be done with it? Sell this at a tad more than current iPT4 and it will be a very good pre-paid iPhone.
A4 or A5, it doesn't matter for a targeting market.
And while we're at it I really love to see a 5.5" iPod Touch with A5. This could be the ultimate mobile game & GPS machine.

What are the chances that the iPod Classic will be discontinued this year?

Dunno, there are still people out there who like the classic because they have too much music to stick on a Touch, and may well already have an iPhone besides. So long as the Classic keeps selling steadily and doesn't require any engineering work done there's no real reason to kill it.

I'd imagine when we start seeing 128GB iPod Touches, that the Classic will be done for though. It seems hard to believe that the classic will even get another storage bump, never mind a full refresh.

The iPod Touch doesn't need an A5. For one it has no competition and secondly it's user base primarily consist of young kids and teenagers that won't care if their iPod has the latest dual core chip and highest specs.

Add a new color and give it a price drop and sales will soar.

I imagine that they'll scale the iPod lineup back this year as well. They can kill the shuffle and the classic this year and reposition the nano into a lower price point.

My guess is we'll see a 4GB Nano priced at $79 and an 8GB Touch priced at $179.

Dunno, there are still people out there who like the classic because they have too much music to stick on a Touch, and may well already have an iPhone besides. So long as the Classic keeps selling steadily and doesn't require any engineering work done there's no real reason to kill it.

I'd imagine when we start seeing 128GB iPod Touches, that the Classic will be done for though. It seems hard to believe that the classic will even get another storage bump, never mind a full refresh.

With iCloud you technically have all your music with you now, so there is no need for the Classic anymore. All you need is a Touch with iCloud and you're set.

You are reading this information the wrong way. The iPod Touch will begin to be phased out this year. It will likely only ship in a single low cost $200 8GB model (in white perhaps). The high end models starting at $300 will be replaced with a new pay as you go iPhone. The iPhone would be able to do everything an iPod Touch can currently do plus have access to cellular voice and/or data. Apple may even throw in some kind of free data service for app and iTunes downloads like the Kindle does for books. If they make the right deals, it could even come with limited free web browsing and iCloud syncing. Perhaps a low cost subscription to play online games. The possibilities are endless. This new iPhone would be in addition to the premium upgrade to the iPhone 4. It would have a thinner design and look a lot like the existing iPod Touch. Expect its camera to be lower resolution than the iPhone. This information is all speculation but it fits well with Apple's strategy and the other leaks.

No matter how many times it's said, a low-cost iPhone that has all the capabilities of the regular iPhone (sans a touch of speed or a slightly better screen), is a very bad idea that will never happen.

You don't undercut the sales of your flagship, world-leading product, at the height of it's popularity by introducing a budget model that does basically the same stuff for half the price.

Eh, where to start? Firstly the iPod that brought Apple back from the dead is the iPod classic the direct descendant from the original iPod.

The iPod Touch is really quite a different device and has very little in common with those early media players. The iPod touch is more closely related to the iPhone or even the iPad, and one could say it is the iPhone from a software perspective, but without 3g (yes the bit that really makes it a phone).

The iPod Touch is in a funny place right now, yes the iPod line is in decline, Apple has already reposition the Nano to be just a music player, it has left the iPod classic there untouched for those who want it, and the iPod Shuffle doesn't really have anywhere else to go, I mean how small can it really get.

My point is that the iPod touch isn't really an iPod, it is much more than that. In fact most people don't even call it an iPod, the name iTouch seems to be everywhere. But analyst love the doom an gloom around the falling revenue coming from the iPod line and the iPod Touch suffers because of this.Maybe we need a name change or something?

Personally i think the iPod Touch will get updated internally - it needs to keep up with the other iOS devices especially it's older sibling the iPhone which both share much of the same software. I think 3g makes sense, this would position the device closer to the iPad (kind of like an iPad Nano) giving the device greater flexibility. As for a white version - that seem to be a no-brainer.

I'm not sure what they are doing this year, but this line of thought is much closer to what I've been thinking as well. Separating the iPod touch from the rest of the iPods makes a lot of sense because the iPod line is indeed dying off, and the iPod touch shouldn't really be a part of that given that it's not really an iPod as you say.

This is a bit of a leap, but I've been thinking that since the iPod touch is really just a small iPad, it might makes sense to rebrand it as such and make iPads in a range of sizes. Then an 'IPod" goes back to being just a music player. On the other hand, if they want to keep the iPod name alive, the iPod touch could simply become "iPod" and be part of a three device strategy, (iPod, iPhone, iPad), and the "old" iPods could be rebranded as music players.

Either way, I think there is a division being made (or about to be) between the iPod touch and the rest of the iPods.

The touch isn't going away anytime soon. It's too much of a gateway to the iPhone and it's very good for people who don't want or can't afford the voice and data service that goes with the iPhone.

I think we'll see some spec bumps like an improved processor and perhaps a better camera, but we need to keep in mind that Apple likes to preserve that $229 starting cost. So, if they can improve the product while maintaining their profit margin, they'll do it.

One interesting rumor is the incorporation of 3G in the touch, so users can buy data from a wireless provider like they can on the iPad. Although I'm not sure how much it would cost to add that capability and how much of a premium Apple would charge for it, it could interest a large enough market segment for Apple to go after.

Storage will be an interesting question. Will the next iPhone and touch bump storage up to 64GB and 128GB, respectively? Flash memory supplies and prices play into this, as well as what Apple has planned for iCloud. Perhaps Apple will try to push people away from having all of their stuff stored locally. Of course, there are folks like me who would love to see a 64GB iPhone in the next version.

And would a theoretical 128GB iPod touch spell the end of the classic? On a per gigabyte basis, the classic is by far the least expensive way to store a large amount of music -- $249 for 160GB versus $399 for a possible 128GB touch. Apple could have done a lot with the classic if it really wanted to. Though the Zune was a failure for Microsoft, the device did do some things that I wouldn't mind seeing incorporated in a updated classic, such as a larger screen, FM capability, and wi-fi for buying music or even taking advantage of Air Play.

If Apple wasn't making money on the classic, then they would have discontinued it. I suspect folks with really large libraries, audiophiles who prefer their music ripped in a lossless format, and DJs still gravitate toward the classic. I still have a classic and prefer to use that as my car iPod because I can pause, advance, or rewind using the click wheel, even though I own an iPhone.

The market demand, however, simply isn't there like it used to be for models like the classic. Although people still buy and use nanos, shuffles, and even classics, the money and demand are in the iOS arena with the touch, iPhone, and iPad.

If Apple could differentiate the line enough between the iPad Nano (love that name!) and the iPhone so it was not considered a threat to iPhone sales, I could see it becoming a huge worldwide seller. It needs GPS and 3G to become a truly viable entry level iDevice - iCloud, iMessage, location based services are the disruptive features that could signal the turning point in the war to beat the service providers back to where they belong: dumb pipes.

I don't think the touch is going anywhere anytime soon, apple just stated that they were appropriating money from now on for icloud and software updates for the touch. That Rowan sound like a company who's about to phase it out for a prepaid iPhone. I though it was likely that they would expand to that and make a 5" version, and it USB and should never be classified as an iPad, a smaller screen needs different apps. Anyways I no longer think they will make it, even though I think there is definitely a market for it.....with 5 inch screen, A5, it.

The iPod Touch doesn't need an A5. For one it has no competition and secondly it's user base primarily consist of young kids and teenagers that won't care if their iPod has the latest dual core chip and highest specs.

Have you ever met a teenager?
Many of them use the iPod for gaming which benefits greatly from better CPUs and GPUs.

I was holding out on buying an iPod touch. The one of the main uses would actually be a google-voice based phone when in range of wifi... i have a work cell phone, but obviously i would love something with the iOS interface, play my pandora music when i'm home (outside patio area via boom box doc).

is the A5 processor allow it to be dual-core? If it's nothing major, I guess I should just pull the trigger on current gen?

Your plan actually makes more sense. I forgot about the other rumors. Sorry to offend any iPod touch users out there! My only iOS device is a iPod Touch 4G 64 GB that is jailbroken on iOS 4.3.3 untethered.

My comment was aimed at the main story not your reply Matthew. Sorry for the confusion.

The only spec I expect to see 100% is an A5 chip. 80% chance that it will get a 3 MP camera (like it was wrongly predicted in 2009 and 2010 it might get), and a 50% chance of 128GB storage. The only things we really need are those features. Other commenters, what else do you think it needs?

Give it 3G like the iPad and I will buy one ASAP! I don't want an iPhone. I want a small version of my Ipad.

Keep in mind that Apple said that it has a major shift in product strategy coming in the next quarter during its earnings call. This change is expected to impact its earnings negatively initially. A $300 low end pay as you go iPhone as a full replacement for the iPod Touch could be the change they were talking about. They will lose revenues from the iPod Touch sales and also have lower profit margins from the first few quarters of the phone sales. They will plan to make that back as component costs go down, their earnings from deals with carriers increases and unit counts explode. In a year though we should see the lowest priced iPhone cost about $200 without a contract and work on every carrier. That would be game changing.